A Room with a Review: NXT 07/22/20
We are officially on the road to NXT TakeOver 30. I still can’t believe that NXT has been around for 30 years. Wait, it hasn’t?
- The show starts with a pre-taped video of Keith Lee relinquishing the NXT North American Championship. NXT General Manager William Regal says that starting tonight, there will be a series of Triple Threat matches, with the winners advancing to a Ladder Match at the next TakeOver event for the title.
- Our first match of the evening is Dexter Lumis vs. Killian Dain. It’s a battle inside and outside of the ring that Lumis wins by choking out Dain.
- Backstage, McKenzie Mitchell asks Roderick Strong about the North American Championship match. He says Keith Lee never gave him a rematch, so he should just be in the match. Bronson Reed walks by and says the Undisputed Era has gotten plenty of chances already. Johnny Gargano joins them, declaring himself the face of NXT and calling Reed Thiccboi.
- Time for tag team action as Canadian superstars EverRise faces Breezango, who come out to the Mountie’s music, while also dressed as mounties. As the announcers note, Breeze is from Canada himself and Fandango is from Maine, which is basically Canada. Breezango gets an easy win with a double Supermodel kick to Chase Parker.
- McKenzie talks with Dominik Dijakovic about being attacked by Karrion Kross last week.
- Next up is Aliyah w/ Robert Stone vs. Shotzi Blackheart. Stone is still in a walking boot after Blackheart ran over his leg with her tank a couple of weeks ago. She nearly does it again during her entrance, but he is saved by the ring steps. Stone tries to get involved, but Shotzi kicks him off the apron, causing him to re-injure his ankle. Blackheart wins the match with a top rope back senton, then proceeds to run over Stone’s good leg. Out of nowhere, Mercedes Martinez levels Shotzi and stands over Stone before heading to the back.
- After a commercial break, we get a cool video package with Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. He talks about his love of music, which led to his desire to perform.
- Next up is a Triple Threat match, with the winner advancing to the North American Championship Ladder match. It’s Johnny Gargano vs. Bronson Reed Vs. Roderick Strong. At one point Gargano and Strong squabble with each other over who gets to beat on Reed. After a grueling back and forth between the three men, Bronson Reed pulls off the upset win after a top rope splash.
- The next bout isn’t a match but a wrestling clinic as Timothy Thatcher squares off with Oney Lorcan. They spend most of the match with Lorcan working on Thatcher’s left arm, but Timothy steals a victory by pinning Lorcan while Oney had him in a double wristlock. It was pretty sweet, to be honest.
- Aliyah is tending to Robert Stone’s latest injury when Mercedes Martinez walks by. She says that she needs someone to handle the contracts and the other dumb stuff so she can focus on hurting people. Stone gladly welcomes her to the team.
- Finn Balor says that if Keith Lee is handing out opportunities, then he is more than happy to take it. He will face off with Lumis and Thatcher next week for a spot in the Ladder Match.
- It is time for our main event as Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett takes on Dominik Dijakovic. I’m hoping this is the match where Kross finally shows me something. If he can hang with Dijakovic, I might reconsider my position on him. They brawl on the outside and Kross wedges Dijakovic between the ring steps and the ring post. Karrion doesn’t want to settle for a count-out, though, so he rolls Dominik back into the ring so he can hit unprotected MMA-style elbows. Keith Lee comes down to the ring to help his friend, but Dijakovic says that this is his decision and asks Keith to stay out. Kross looks directly at Lee while choking out Dijakovic for the victory.
I’m still not sold on Kross, especially since he’s a good half a head shorter than Dijakovic, so he lost his “big guy” mystique. And they need to figure out something for Scarlett to do besides lip sync and carry a giant hourglass.
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